Boris Johnson dished up Christmas lunch to overseas troops serving in Estonia today and thanked them for enduring ‘a very cold place a long way away’ to keep Britain safe during the festive period.
The Prime Minister jetted on to the landing strip at Tapa military base near Tallinn on a RAF A330 plane where he met the 850 servicemen and women of the Queen’s Royal Hussars.
Throwing on a red ‘catering department’ apron and clutching a pair of metal tongs, he served turkey and Yorkshire puddings to the hungry soldiers before sitting down himself to tuck into a large slice of chocolate cake.
The grinning Tory leader chatted to the uniformed troops about rugby, Russia and their two-can alcohol restrictions while on base.
After posing for selfies, he leaped up on to a wooden crate and gave a spirit-lifting speech where he thanked the soldiers for their efforts, wished them a merry Christmas and joked that the Baltic state is ‘quite bleak’ in winter.
Boris Johnson dished up Christmas lunch to overseas troops serving in Estonia today and thanked them for keeping Britain safe over the festive period
He leaped up on to a wooden crate and gave a spirit-lifting speech where he thanked the soldiers for their efforts, wished them a merry Christmas and joked that the baltic state is ‘quite bleak’ in winter
Clutching a pair of metal tongs, he served turkey and Yorkshire puddings to the 850 servicemen and women of the Queen’s Royal Hussars
Hungry work? After dishing up the lunch, the Prime Minister sat down himself to tuck into a large slice of chocolate cake
The grinning Tory leader chatted to the uniformed troops about rugby, Russia and their two-can alcohol restrictions while on base
He said: ‘In the course of the next few days, everybody in our country is going to be celebrating Christmas with their families and you’re going to be here – a long way away, a pretty cold place…
‘What you’re doing is incredibly important because the reason everybody in our country can have Christmas in peace and security is because of what you’re doing here.
‘What you’re doing is showing that Nato works and that Nato is an alliance to which we in this country are absolutely committed too.’
The troops, with personnel from Estonia, France and Denmark, form the Nato battlegroup which is the UK’s largest operational deployment in Europe.
Its purpose is to ensure the collective defence principle can be upheld on the alliance’s eastern border with Russia.
The PM hailed the troops as the ‘most vivid and powerful possible symbol and expression’ that Britain is committed to the security and stability of the whole of Europe.
He added: ‘It’s an incredible thing for me to come to Estonia because when I was a kid – when I was your age – Estonia was part of the Soviet Union and we’re now here helping to protect Estonia’s security.
The Prime Minister toured the canteen and hailed the troops as the ‘most vivid and powerful possible symbol and expression’ that Britain is committed to the security and stability of the whole of Europe
He said: ‘In the course of the next few days, everybody in our country is going to be celebrating Christmas with their families and you’re going to be here – a long way away, a pretty cold place’
The PM said: ‘He added: ‘It’s an incredible thing for me to come to Estonia because when I was a kid – when I was your age – Estonia was part of the Soviet Union and we’re now here helping to protect Estonia’s security
The battalion’s purpose is to ensure the collective defence principle can be upheld on the alliance’s eastern border with Russia
The troops, with personnel from Estonia, France and Denmark, form the Nato battlegroup which is the UK’s largest operational deployment in Europe
‘It’s a fantastic thing and it’s a deeply moving thing for someone from my generation,’ he told troops in a vehicle hangar at the base.’
He told them: ‘Last time I was here they let me drive a tank. That didn’t seem to be on the agenda today.’
The Prime Minister also held bilateral talks with his Estonian counterpart Juri Ratas, during which they discussed security and defence.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: ‘The leaders discussed the close partnership between the UK and Estonia, in particular our joint security and defence cooperation.
‘The Prime Minister reaffirmed the UK’s unconditional commitment to Estonia’s regional security through Nato.
‘The two leaders discussed the need to work together to address shared global challenges and the Prime Minister invited Prime Minister Ratas to attend the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow next year.’
Last night, Mr Johnson dined at Scotts restaurant in Mayfair, and was pictured leaving bleary-eyed.
Th PM told the troops: ‘What you’re doing is incredibly important because the reason everybody in our country can have Christmas in peace and security is because of what you’re doing here’
The Prime Minister also held bilateral talks with his Estonian counterpart Juri Ratas, during which they discussed security and defence
The Prime Minister jetted on to the landing strip at Tapa military base near Tallinn on a RAF A330 plane